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Date: 3/2/2021
EASTHAMPTON – On Feb. 22 a community meeting was hosted to discuss the proposed green infrastructure and streetscape improvements for Cherry Street and Mt. Tom and Lux avenues.
Green infrastructure allows water to drain into the ground through grass, soil, and rain gardens. Gray infrastructure is what is normally seen with manholes, dams, pipes and sewer systems.
During the meeting Julianne Busa, the city’s consultant walked the attendees through a conceptual design for the drainage area at the eastern end of Cherry Street and Mt. Tom and Lux avenues.
According to the presentation, the goals of this proposed project is to build resiliency for increased future precipitation and collect and infiltrate stormwater. In addition, they are expecting to have higher temperatures and longer periods of hot days in the summer, so they are considering adding trees for cover and shade as well as increasing safety for residents and walkability.
Busa showed what Cherry Street looks like today which includes the read measuring 20 to 21 feet wide, with a 5 ½ feet wide sidewalk on one side of the street.
The proposed changes would put the measures at 20 feet wide for the road and 5 feet wide for the sidewalk. On the sidewalk side, they added a sediment forebay and a tree box filter. On the other side of the street, they added 3 feet wide bioretention planters. Curbing to separate the road, the sidewalk, and people’s lawn edges will be added as well.
Busa noted that the exact locations of the planters and filter are unknown right now, but their presentation was to give the public an idea of what could potentially happen.
Busa explained that adding bioretention planters is an opportunity to create space along the streetscape where they will have inlets from the street through a cut in the curb to allow water to come in, rather than going straight down into a catch basin or drain.
The inlets will also catch any sediment, sand, or grit that may be on the road or any larger debris and it will be easy to clean up. When the water overflows in the inlet, it will go into the planting area next to it. Busa expressed that even in the event that the planter gets too full, they have overflow structures that allow extra water to be returned to the drainage pipes.
A treebox filter has the same principles as a planter, however it has a different design. Essentially, there is a tree with some sort of grate on top to catch any debris and prevent the tree from being a trip hazard. There will also be an inlet in the curb for the water.
At the end of the presentation, residents were able to ask questions, make comments and provide feedback.
A resident asked why they would be putting trees under powerlines. Staff Engineer Diane Rossini explained that they will be purchasing trees that are made to go under powerlines and will not grow as high.
Justin Eichenlaub, a resident who lives on Cherry Street, expressed that the plan looks great and thanked the group for bringing the project to the street. “The design just looks so great and it is very exciting. I have a young toddler, I think it will slow down traffic a little bit, just like psychologically.”
Louise Laplante, another resident who lives in the neighborhood, shared that she is concerned about the planting aspect. She asked who will maintain the plants that are put in front of people’s homes.
“Specifically what sort of planting we are looking at is still an open question but whatever we go with, the idea would be to choose something that is very low maintenance. One of the benefits of this kind of planting and planter is that you have a source of water that is coming in and we would choose plants that are suited to the kind of conditions where they can get a lot of water in one day and then be drought-tolerant in the next couple weeks when there is no rain,” Busa responded.
She continued to say that those who enjoy gardening have an opportunity to add things to the planters if there is one in front of their home.
Councilor Lindsey Rothschild and a resident in the neighborhood asked if these improvements will be extended to the end of Mt. Tom Avenue as well. Rossini answered that as long as they received the funding, the whole street will receive the improvements.
The funding that they will be applying to in the months to come will only fund Cherry Street but any plans or designs that they create, they do want to put into action at some point.
At the beginning of the meeting Assistant Planner Jamie Webb informed the public of the timeline of this project.
Three years ago the city completed the integrated water resources management plan which is an attempt to manage the water supply, wastewater and stormwater systems in order to coordinate management development of these resources to maximize the economic and social benefit while minimizing the impact on the environment. During this process, the Cherry Street infrastructure drainage was identified as a top priority for the city.
In 2019, the city completed the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) planning process which is an effort to identify climate-related impacts and vulnerabilities and mitigate them before they become bigger problems. Through this step, again the Cherry Street stormwater drainage was identified as a key priority. The city also created a city-wide infrastructure master plan.
Last year the city received $175,957 from the MVP Action Grant program to design and complete permitting for the Cherry Street green infrastructure and streetscape improvements for the green infrastructure master plan.
The green infrastructure planning study will allow them to incorporate green infrastructure into future projects for the whole city, not just this neighborhood.
In a previous interview with Reminder Publishing, Rossini said green infrastructure can be cheaper and easier to maintain in some cases. For example, the city may be able to add some green infrastructure to an area that has started to see more flooding to handle the flow instead of upsizing the pipes which could cost more and finding more space underground in already crowded areas. She also said green infrastructure cleans stormwater naturally before taking it to the rivers, streams, and lakes.
Their next steps are to work with consultants to complete the conceptual plans to create construction drawings and to complete permitting and then apply for the next round of MVP Action Grants for implementation for construction of the drainage and streetscape improvements.
They will also be working with the Community Development Block Grant program to apply to upgrade the sewer and water infrastructure in the neighborhood.
If they receive grant money from the next round of MVP Action Grants, construction will begin in 2022.
Cherry Street would be done first and while the proposed project showed one end of the street, the whole street will receive renovations.
Busa shared that they may also need more information from community members to support future grants. They may ask residents to complete an income survey, the project Community Liasion may contact residents, and they are also in the process of hiring a Community Liaison who will be funded through this grant project and will serve in the role of communicating back and forth with the neighborhood about the project. Busa did note that the Community Liaison position is still open.
For additional information or updates register on the project website, www.easthamptonma.
gov/MVP.
Any input from the community can be sent to planning@easthamptonMA.gov.